Hi everyone! How has your week been? I’m happy to report that I’m officially off my petite crutches, have graduated from my medical moon boot, and am now teetering around pretty normal-style with only the slightest heightened sensation in my left ankle. When I went to see my beloved chiropractor the week after my sidewalk stumble, she told me that the discomfort I was now experiencing was because the muscles and ligaments and other accoutrements in my foot were tight from underuse, and the only way to help them now was to let them get strong through movement. How very leap and the net will appear, Kindra. How very, the only way out is through.
Since I’ve been back on my FEET I’ve been hunting for sneakers for them, which is tricky because 1. I don’t really like sneakers, and 2. I have pretty flat, wide feet which makes fitting into cute sneakers challenging. But I’ve been putting in my time on “wide feet sneaker cute” tiktok because I’m headed to Chicago next week and I want my little dogs to feel supported! Some of my extended family are gathering for a late Passover seder next weekend, and Jesse and I are staying a little longer to see pals, do some shows, and rehearse for a play that we are workshopping with some friends- much more on that front later! I’m so excited to be back in Chicago- I lived there for over 7 years, from ages 22 to 30, and have an overwhelming love for its places and its people. Jesse and I met at a wedding in Chicago, and he lived there in his early twenties too, but we haven’t really experienced the city together and I can’t wait to show him the theaters where I performed, the bars that I loved, the countless corners that I have endless memories on.
When I first moved to Chicago, it was August of 2013. I was 22, fresh out of college, and had never lived outside of the state of New York. My best friend from study abroad, Lizzy, had found a three-bedroom apartment in Logan Square that we would be sharing with her best friend from college, Sarah. My rent was $400/month but I figured I could make it work. I had no job, and no “prospects” per say, but when I did the honest research of googling all of my favorite comedians, the majority of them had gotten their start in Chicago so I figured I would too. My mom and I flew out with a few dainty suitcases, while my dad embarked solo on a heroic 12-hour u-haul drive with the rest of my earthly possessions and all the furniture my mom wanted out of her garage. When my dad finally arrived, he requested two vegan strawberry milkshakes from The Chicago Diner which he accepted from the bath, one hand reaching out the door Lorax-style, and we seemed to call it even.
That night, my divorced parents and I settled into my aunt and uncles home-they were out of town for the weekend and offered us the space until we could get into my new apartment the next morning. My dad went to sleep right away in my cousin’s room, and my mom and I were preparing to wind down in my aunt and uncle’s when she looked over and noticed me crying. When she asked me what was wrong, I responded that I was so frustrated that I didn’t already know the city. That when I looked at google maps, tracking our trek to my brand new home, I didn’t recognize a single street. It wasn’t even that I was overwhelmed or scared- though those were certainly the feelings beneath the feeling- it was more that I was new, I was a beginner. At 22 in a brand new city, I was somehow not already a master.
The next day my parents settled me into my sweet apartment on Troy Street, with my similarly gobsmacked roommates who remain two of my best friends to this day. In my 7.5 years in Chicago I sowed meaning and memories into each of those previously anonymous streets, to the point that when I was riding the bus in my final years I could look out the window and almost see the ghosts of my younger selves inhabiting these monuments: The trash can on Diversey where I barfed for no reason on my way to Susan Messing’s level 2 improv class. The bus stop on North Ave where I felt my nose hairs freeze for the first time during the (first) polar vortex. The bar on Irving Park where I threw myself a going away party before I left to perform on a cruise ship for four months at 24. The dance club on Chicago Ave where I polled every single person in the women’s bathroom about whether or not I should text my ex and then did it anyway. The park bench on Kedzie where Leila and I ate socially-distanced kabobs to celebrate my 30th birthday during covid. The spots where I had first kisses and big talks and weird dates and great shows and rough auditions and the ghosts live on and on and on.
7.5 years in Chicago imbued those streets with so much more meaning than being a master of google maps ever could. Just like when you’re learning lines for a play, it’s much easier to remember what your character says when you really understand why it is that they’re saying it. It’s easier to remember that Clark and Broadway meet at Diversey because that’s where you like to get a donut at Stan’s. That you can’t let your guard down on the purple line because you’ll end up on an express train to Evanston sitting across from Beth Kligerman. That there’s a great trash can right outside the Starbucks on Sheffield, should you need to hop off the bus for a barf.
Friend of the ‘pot Claire McFadden gave me a helpful suggestion last week that I’ve put a little spin on and would love to share with the group. In addition to collecting general submissions from you guys (which I love), I’m also going to start posing three topics a month that I would love to hear your take on, á la Suay dye bath’s monthly colors. This is mostly just to serve as a rotating jumping off point for any would-be contributors, not as a strict theme we’ll be adhering to- lord knows I do not have the will or the resources to be strict in this space! It’s just inspiration, darling, there are no grades. The responses can be a full piece, or just a fragment that I can pair with others and share as a bouquet! They can be literal, or something completely different that these words just reminded you of. Let’s see what happens! Now here we go.
MAY TOPICS:
Spring Cleaning (as literal or as metaphorical as you please)
A recipe that you are making on repeat these days (yummy but ugly allowed and encouraged!)
“Surprise!”
Have a wonderful week my friends! Happy Taurus season! Happy mercury retrograde ending on Thursday! Do you have any *wide* sneakers that you like? Do do let me know!
xx Olivia
Who ever knew the Lorax was in my tub drinking vegan strawberry shakes, plus, thanks to you, I'm checking the box on my long search for best trashcan in Chicago for a barf. Thanks 'pot! See you soon in Chicago where you belong.